Human Cloning
I found human cloning as a mind-blowing topic. So I went ahead and did some research regarding cloning and this is what I found.
In recent years the medical field has evolved rapidly creating cures for virtually any illness and other medical breakthroughs are also very astonishing. First, with the discovery of infection after the civil war, then with the first heart transplant nearly 30 years ago, also with first in-vitro fertilization baby born in 1978. More recently with the birth of the first cloned sheep. In 1997 a Scottish research team of scientist worked together for many months on a cloning project. After 277 attempts, the scientists successfully cloned the first sheep, called “Dolly.” Cloning is a bizarre thought, but it becomes even worse thought when humans are the ones being cloned. After the announcement of the first coned sheep went public, the news were literally every where. Today human cloning is currently one of the hottest topics being discussed all over the world raising: ethical, legal, medical and social questions.
Before discussing human cloning in depth, the process it takes to create an exact clone should be understood. The process is not as complex as many would think. The process consists of: the implantation of a non-sexual (i.e., hair cell or skin cell) into a recipient egg whose nucleus has been extracted. The egg is later treated with an electrical charge, which causes the resulting cell to divide as if conception was occurring. After the cell has divided itself into several parts it will contain the exact genetic information of the non-sexual cell. Finally, the resulting cell is then implanted in the uterus of a surrogate mother resulting in a pregnancy. In fact, cloning a human is not far from reality,
“ Success in copying monkey embryos in an Oregon Primate Center shows that our nearest biological kin can be cloned”(Caplan 34). Yet, the greatest challenge scientists would face in human cloning, are the success rates, which are not favorable. It took hundreds of attempts for the Scottish scientist to clone Dolly; the majority of the embryos died during the transferring of genes or when they were electrical charged. The ones that survived developed into abnormal fetuses. “ Recent study of mammalian cloning also suggests that a number of defects of the egg do not manifest until later in life of the resulting clone” (McGee)
Currently there is a race to be the first to successfully clone a human being. Today countries, such as: Great Britain, Scotland, Canada, South Korea and The United States are racing to be the first. Some of these countries have considerable advantage over the U.S. due to the liberalism of their governments. “Britain’s House of Lords voted overwhelmingly to permit the cloning and maintenance of human embryos up to14 days old for purpose of medical experimentation” (Smith). On the contrary, in the US there are now several states that oppose human cloning and have already banned the procedure. “Republican senator Jane Nelson has introduced a bill in Austin that would impose a fine of as much as $1 million for researchers who use cloning technology to initiate pregnancy in humans” (Gibbs). This explains why most of the research is being done secretly in countries where human cloning is viewed as unethical and immoralAt the moment American public is not ready to digest the thought of cloning. In a survey conducted by TIME/CNN 90 percent of the respondents thought of human cloning as unethical or immoral. Indeed there is a reason for the public to be concerned. Today the technology is not quite at a point where experiments on human cloning should be taking place. Even though there has been five years of experimenting with mammals the outcomes of cloning are not yet fully understood. The failure rate is still very high “98 percent of the embryos never implant or die off during gestation or soon after birth” (Gibbs). Recent studies show that Dolly the sheep aged rapidly and died prematurely. It is very likely that the affect human clones would be the same. Furthermore, biotechnology is a threat to the natural reproduction of humans by scientists creating different life forms. Scientists have already put to use some cloning techniques by adding genetic material from a jelly fish to a cloned monkey embryo, making a monkey that now glows in the dark. In addition, there are scientists in the biotechnological world who support the idea of creating “chimeras” part human and part animal. “ Not to long ago Australian scientists announced they had created a ‘pig-man’ through cloning techniques, and allowed the hybrid to develop for more than two weeks before destroying it” (Smith). It is clear that cloning can take the wrong path when scientists are cloning to see how far they can get or just for pure curiosity. It is also clear that reproductive cloning should be regulated and boundaries should be applied to control biotechnology. If we are to consider human cloning, this is obviously not the way to do so. Human cloning should be treated as a very dangerous and delicate issue.
The Catholic Church is one of major opponents of human cloning; The Vatican long ago rejected any type of research dealing with human embryos. “The church believes that the soul is created at the moment of conception, and that the embryo is worthy of protection” (Gibbs). The church also believes each embryo is a human being. One of the arguments religious opponents present: is that it will take hundreds of lives only in the attempt to clone a human. If it took 104 attempts before the first IVF baby was born, how many lives will take after the birth of the first cloned baby?
On the other hand, proponents argue that cloning a human is not as bad as sounds. There are many reasons why we should consider cloning, perhaps for therapeutic purposes. Advanced Cell Technology (a biotechnological company) has also claimed to have successfully cloned a human embryo. However, ACT has other type of cloning in mind. “ The company has created clones for research into how it might produce stem cells for therapeutic purposes, and has no intention of allowing any of the embryos to be implanted into a woman’s womb to create a pregnancy” (Kahn). If experiments on human embryos progress. It is possible that one-day embryonic stem cells can eventually be turned into every kind of tissue, including brain, muscle, nerve and blood. These cells could serve as body’s self-repair kits, providing cures for Parkinson’s, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and paralysis. This could be one of the reasons why human cloning should be allowed and supported. Therapeutic cloning could be the end for other bioethical issues such as organ transplant.
Here is a picture of the most famous sheep ever.
Links
http://www.humancloning.org/
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/how.html
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
In recent years the medical field has evolved rapidly creating cures for virtually any illness and other medical breakthroughs are also very astonishing. First, with the discovery of infection after the civil war, then with the first heart transplant nearly 30 years ago, also with first in-vitro fertilization baby born in 1978. More recently with the birth of the first cloned sheep. In 1997 a Scottish research team of scientist worked together for many months on a cloning project. After 277 attempts, the scientists successfully cloned the first sheep, called “Dolly.” Cloning is a bizarre thought, but it becomes even worse thought when humans are the ones being cloned. After the announcement of the first coned sheep went public, the news were literally every where. Today human cloning is currently one of the hottest topics being discussed all over the world raising: ethical, legal, medical and social questions.
Before discussing human cloning in depth, the process it takes to create an exact clone should be understood. The process is not as complex as many would think. The process consists of: the implantation of a non-sexual (i.e., hair cell or skin cell) into a recipient egg whose nucleus has been extracted. The egg is later treated with an electrical charge, which causes the resulting cell to divide as if conception was occurring. After the cell has divided itself into several parts it will contain the exact genetic information of the non-sexual cell. Finally, the resulting cell is then implanted in the uterus of a surrogate mother resulting in a pregnancy. In fact, cloning a human is not far from reality,
“ Success in copying monkey embryos in an Oregon Primate Center shows that our nearest biological kin can be cloned”(Caplan 34). Yet, the greatest challenge scientists would face in human cloning, are the success rates, which are not favorable. It took hundreds of attempts for the Scottish scientist to clone Dolly; the majority of the embryos died during the transferring of genes or when they were electrical charged. The ones that survived developed into abnormal fetuses. “ Recent study of mammalian cloning also suggests that a number of defects of the egg do not manifest until later in life of the resulting clone” (McGee)
Currently there is a race to be the first to successfully clone a human being. Today countries, such as: Great Britain, Scotland, Canada, South Korea and The United States are racing to be the first. Some of these countries have considerable advantage over the U.S. due to the liberalism of their governments. “Britain’s House of Lords voted overwhelmingly to permit the cloning and maintenance of human embryos up to14 days old for purpose of medical experimentation” (Smith). On the contrary, in the US there are now several states that oppose human cloning and have already banned the procedure. “Republican senator Jane Nelson has introduced a bill in Austin that would impose a fine of as much as $1 million for researchers who use cloning technology to initiate pregnancy in humans” (Gibbs). This explains why most of the research is being done secretly in countries where human cloning is viewed as unethical and immoralAt the moment American public is not ready to digest the thought of cloning. In a survey conducted by TIME/CNN 90 percent of the respondents thought of human cloning as unethical or immoral. Indeed there is a reason for the public to be concerned. Today the technology is not quite at a point where experiments on human cloning should be taking place. Even though there has been five years of experimenting with mammals the outcomes of cloning are not yet fully understood. The failure rate is still very high “98 percent of the embryos never implant or die off during gestation or soon after birth” (Gibbs). Recent studies show that Dolly the sheep aged rapidly and died prematurely. It is very likely that the affect human clones would be the same. Furthermore, biotechnology is a threat to the natural reproduction of humans by scientists creating different life forms. Scientists have already put to use some cloning techniques by adding genetic material from a jelly fish to a cloned monkey embryo, making a monkey that now glows in the dark. In addition, there are scientists in the biotechnological world who support the idea of creating “chimeras” part human and part animal. “ Not to long ago Australian scientists announced they had created a ‘pig-man’ through cloning techniques, and allowed the hybrid to develop for more than two weeks before destroying it” (Smith). It is clear that cloning can take the wrong path when scientists are cloning to see how far they can get or just for pure curiosity. It is also clear that reproductive cloning should be regulated and boundaries should be applied to control biotechnology. If we are to consider human cloning, this is obviously not the way to do so. Human cloning should be treated as a very dangerous and delicate issue.
The Catholic Church is one of major opponents of human cloning; The Vatican long ago rejected any type of research dealing with human embryos. “The church believes that the soul is created at the moment of conception, and that the embryo is worthy of protection” (Gibbs). The church also believes each embryo is a human being. One of the arguments religious opponents present: is that it will take hundreds of lives only in the attempt to clone a human. If it took 104 attempts before the first IVF baby was born, how many lives will take after the birth of the first cloned baby?
On the other hand, proponents argue that cloning a human is not as bad as sounds. There are many reasons why we should consider cloning, perhaps for therapeutic purposes. Advanced Cell Technology (a biotechnological company) has also claimed to have successfully cloned a human embryo. However, ACT has other type of cloning in mind. “ The company has created clones for research into how it might produce stem cells for therapeutic purposes, and has no intention of allowing any of the embryos to be implanted into a woman’s womb to create a pregnancy” (Kahn). If experiments on human embryos progress. It is possible that one-day embryonic stem cells can eventually be turned into every kind of tissue, including brain, muscle, nerve and blood. These cells could serve as body’s self-repair kits, providing cures for Parkinson’s, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and paralysis. This could be one of the reasons why human cloning should be allowed and supported. Therapeutic cloning could be the end for other bioethical issues such as organ transplant.
Here is a picture of the most famous sheep ever.
Links
http://www.humancloning.org/
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/how.html
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
posted by Memo at 1:10 AM
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